New Years Sensory Bottle

We love sensory play! Sensory play helps your preschoolers learn more about the world around them. With the holiday season upon us, I wanted to share a new sensory bottle idea with you! This New Year’s Eve sensory bottle is a fun way to help your preschoolers get excited for a New Year. It’s the perfect addition to our sensory activities and so much fun for a New Year’s party with kids!

Introducing sensory play activities in your classroom is an excellent way to help your students enjoy the world around them. This sensory bottle focuses on sight and touch.

During this New Years’ sensory bottle activity, your students will enjoy touching their sensory bottle and feeling it in between their hands all the while becoming mesmerized by the glitter and decorations inside. There are many benefits of sensory play.

What are the benefits of sensory play?

There are five key components of sensory play. You’ll find that sensory play helps your preschoolers develop, enhance and expand upon certain skills. Below is a list of the benefits of sensory play:

• Motor skills and language development
• Encourages preschoolers’ ability to complete and engage in more complex tasks
• Memory function
• Ability to calm and relax during a stressful or anxious situation
• Learn about taste, texture, shapes, and other senses for an enhanced understanding of their world.

Sensory play can be performed in many ways. There is a variety of sensory play activities featured right here on my site that encourages preschoolers to touch, taste, and smell different items. The whole purpose of sensory play is to help students learn more about the world around them. This New Years’ sensory bottle will trigger a whole new level of interest in the five senses.

What are some other forms of sensory play?

If you’re looking for other sensory play activities to enjoy with your preschoolers then you might enjoy the Artic Animal Sensory Bin Matching Game Printable, Turkey Sensory Squishy Bag Activity, Heart Themed Discovery Bottle for Sensory play, or these Rainstorm Sensory Bottles for kids.

Admittedly some of the sensory play ideas I’ve featured above are messier than this New Years’ sensory bottle. I think it’s good to let preschoolers get a little messy with their hands-on activities as it helps encourage them to continue learning through play. This New Years’ sensory bottle will hold the attention of your students as they enjoy the glittery look and textured feeling of their New Years’ sensory bottle creation.

What is the point of sensory bottles?

When it comes to sensory bottles they serve a purpose to help your students learn more about their world through touch and sight, but sensory bottles have another purpose as well. Often you’ll hear someone refer to sensory bottles as calm down bottles. This is because sensory bottles are often used as a tool in the classroom to keep students focused, calm, and engaged. I highly recommend you use this sensory bottle activity as a way to give your students something to hold at their desk or table during their daily class time.

This New Years’ sensory bottle will help your students use their creativity all the while developing a tool that will essentially help you keep your classroom quieter.

How to Make New Years Sensory Bottle

Gather up the supplies listed below and follow my step by step instructions to make this New Years’ sensory bottle with your preschoolers today.

Supplies:

• 1 (16 ounce) plastic storage/sensory bottle
• 2 to 3 (6 ounce) bottles Elmer’s Glue in clear
• About 1 cup warm water
• About 1 tablespoon glitter or confetti (if desired)
• Toys (if desired)
• Mini Clock craft pieces
• White/Gold Glitter

Instructions:

Empty one bottle of glue into the bottle.

Fill the empty glue bottle about half full with warm water (about ¼ cup) and seal with the lid. Shake well to combine the remaining glue with the water. Pour into jar with glue and shake or stir to combine.

If you are adding glitter or toys, add part of the glitter and toys into the glue mixture.

Seal the jar and shake well. If the glitter or confetti does not move easily, add more warm water. If the glitter or confetti moves to quickly, add additional glue. Continuing adding in layers with the glitter and toys until you achieve your desired effect.

When the contents of the bottle move according to your preference, seal the bottle and glue the lid closed to avoid spills.

If desired, cover the lid with duct tape or additional decorations.

We like to seal the bottle with hot glue as well to make sure that it doesn’t leak during play.

If your kids are having a hard time settling down on New Years Eve while everyone is ringing in the new year, have them take their New Year’s Eve sensory bottle to a quiet spot and get a little calm in the chaos!